Marxist Theory

Marxist Theory

According to Marx, the capitalist class – the bourgeoisie – control the ‘production and distribution of ideas’ because of their control of the ‘means of material production’. As a result it is their ideas, their views and accounts of the world and how it works, that dominate the outlook of capitalist society.

The outcome is that the ideology of the bourgeoisie becomes the dominant ideology of the society, thereby shaping the thinking and action of all other classes in society, including the working class or proletariat. This ideological domination is crucial in the maintenance of the inequality between the social classes.

Culture – like religion – is, then, is the often quoted words of Marx the ‘opiate of the people’. It is like a drug injected by social agencies such as the media and education under the influence of which working people fail to see how they are being exploited. For Marxism social conflict is inherent in the nature of production in capitalist societies. The media in this context takes sides, so to speak. They are part of the established power structures of society, presenting a picture of the world that reinforces these power structures and offers a false representation of what is happening in the world.

Kevin Williams, Understanding Media Theory (Mass Society and Modernity) p. 37-38